Best Trading 212 Alternatives (2024)

Having been around since 1978 and surviving multiple financial crises, the Interactive Brokers’ major advantage is its reputation. It is also publicly listed on the NASDAQ exchange (ticker: IBKR), which makes it a bit more regulated than some other platforms.

Other significant advantages of using Interactive Brokers are its wide selection of financial products from over 150 markets, solid trade execution (IB SmartRouting), and supporting 24 currencies in its account. There are also 100+ currency pairs available for exchange.

Some downsides of using Interactive Brokers are its complex fee structure, lengthier than average registration and fund deposit processes, and limited commission-free trading (only available for US investors). However, the last point is largely mitigated by using narrower spreads and lower FX fees than some of its competitors. 

Speaking of the fee structure, there are two distinct plans to choose from – Tiered and Fixed, with the former fees depending on the trade volume. The fees also vary across different markets. You can see the full fee structure here.

The Interactive Brokers Trader Workstation (TWS) platform offers many basic and advanced features, such as a demo account, watch lists, alerts and monitoring in real-time, advanced technical analysis tools, and more. One of the downsides of the platform is that the learning curve can be steep for beginners, even with the provided educational materials.

The IBKR GlobalTrader mobile app is a much more intuitive choice for beginner investors, offering stocks, ETFs, and options trading in a more user-friendly format. Other app features include automatic currency conversions, fractional shares (only for US stocks found here), and more.

There is also a web-based application named Client Portal, which is halfway between TWS and Global Trader in terms of both user experience and available options. It offers some of the advanced trading tools of the TWS in a more user-friendly format.

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Being founded in 2007, regulated by top-tier financial institutions, and having over 30 million global users, eToro is a well-renowned broker. The platform is most known for its social trading feature, in which you can follow and copy other investors’ trades and portfolios. There is also a wide selection of markets and financial products to choose from when investing by yourself, including stocks, ETFs, cryptocurrencies, and CFDs (on stocks, ETFs, commodities, currencies, indices, and cryptocurrencies).

The platform is intuitive and well-suited even for beginners and also offers trading with virtual funds through its demo account. Account opening and depositing funds are both easy and fast. Zero commission trading is available, and the minimum deposit is set at $50.

eToro Dashboard

The feature that eToro is best known for is probably its social trading feature named Copy Trader. It allows users to copy the trading behavior of other investors in real-time, at no extra charge to the user.

Another unique feature of eToro is an automated investing tool named Smart Portfolios. Most Smart Portfolios are created and managed by the eToro Investment Team, but Partner Portfolios are created and managed by eToro’s partners, which include asset managers, data research companies, and more.

Low and transparent fees are one of the main pros of using of eToro. There are no fees for account management or when trading stocks. The most common fees are: 

• Currency exchange fees when depositing in currencies other than the USD;
• A fixed withdrawal fee of $5 (minimum withdrawal amount is $30);
• $10 after 1 year of inactivity
• Market (bid/ask) spreads.

The most important cons when using eToro are the aforementioned fees, supporting only one currency for trading (USD), and having high spreads on certain products. Other cons include the lack of more advanced tools for experienced traders and the platform having custody over users’ crypto assets.

Overall, eToro is a good choice for most beginner investors looking for a simple and low-cost way to start investing through a reputable broker who offers access to a wide selection of financial products. If you need more info, feel free to check out our more detailed review of eToro.

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Founded in 2013 in the Netherlands, DEGIRO became one of the most popular European brokers, with over 2.5 million customers. It is also amongst the largest publicly traded companies in Germany, and it even secured a banking license. It is available in 15 European countries (currently not present outside of Europe).

DEGIRO is perhaps best known for its low fees and wide selection of financial products. There are no deposit or withdrawal fees, as well as inactivity fees. Commission-free trading is also available, but only for selected ETFs found on this list. Bear in mind that a €1 handling fee applies.

The platform is intuitive and fairly simple to use, even for beginner investors. There are even some advanced trading options available, such as different market order types and live interactive charts.

DEGIRO Dashboard

One of the cons of using DEGIRO is that bank transfers are the only deposit method available.

DEGIRO’s fee structure is fairly simple and includes: 

• A €/£1.00 commission per trade for US, Canadian and local stocks;
• A €/£1 handling fee;
• A €/£2.50 connectivity fee per exchange;
• Fixed currency conversion fee of 0.25%. 

Another thing to remember is that leveraged products for U.S. exchange-listed stocks are limited. If you want to trade options and futures, Interactive Brokers or Saxo Bank are probably more suitable choices.

If you need more info, please check out our more detailed review of DEGIRO.

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Founded in 2008, Plus500 is a trading platform best known for its wide choice of CFD products and low fees through its Plus500 CFD account. However, it also offers stocks (physical shares) in its Plus500 Invest account.

The company is also listed on the London Stock Exchange and is available in over 50 countries.

The web platform (WebTrader) offers an intuitive interface with access from multiple devices, including a mobile app. There is also a demo account option to test the features and trade with virtual funds.

Plus500 Dashboard

Plus500 offers accounts in 16 different currencies (including USD, EUR, and GBP, to name a few). There is also a currency conversion fee (up to 0.7% of the trade’s realized net profit and loss) and a $10 monthly inactivity fee (following three months of not logging in to the platform).

Plus500 CFD fees come mainly from the buy/sell (Bid/Ask) spread, which varies across different instruments. When using Plus500 Invest, each trade has a fee, depending on your exchange. It could be as low as 0.006$ per share for US stocks but can be significantly higher for EU stocks (the minimum is between €2 and €6 per trade). 

Find more details about Plus500 CFD fees here and Plus500 Invest fees here.

If you need more info about this platform in general, feel free to check out our more detailed review of Plus500.

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Founded in 2017, inbestMe is a fairly new investment platform. We can categorize it as a robo-advisor, which means that it offers automated investing (similar to Trading 212 Auto Invest & Pies).

The investing plans are divided into Pension Plans, Index Funds, and ETFs, with the first two being available only in Spain. There is also a socially responsible (SRI) version of all three plans. Other plans include a premium plan inbestMe Plus for users with over €100,000 of AUM (assets-under-management) and inbestMe Kids, an account for minors with a Spanish ID.

This means that, if you’re not a resident of Spain, you will only have access to the inbestMe ETF plans. There are 4 plans to choose from in this category:

The listed fees are for accounts with a value of under €100,000. There is also a variable success fee on the performance obtained of 5%, but only for the inbestMe ETFs Dynamic plan. For more detail about the fee structure of the ETF plans, please visit this link.

Also keep in mind that inbestMe uses Interactive Brokers to execute trades and hold your securities, with inbestMe acting as the manager in this process.

Opening and funding the account on inbestMe is a fairly simple and fast process. You start by answering an interactive questionnaire that determines your investment (risk) profile. This is the base for building a globally diversified investment plan specifically for you. After that, the only thing you have left is to start investing, with different minimum initial deposits for each investment plan.

Similar to other robo-advisors, the platform is simple and intuitive, even for beginners.

inbestMe Dashboard

Overall, inbestMe is a good choice for a beginner wanting to fully automate their investing process. The platform is easy to navigate from start to finish and the fees are reasonable.

However, if you’re not a Spanish resident, you will have to settle only for their ETF investment plan (regular or SRI). Also, keep in mind that the minimum initial deposits are high.

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Founded in 1992, Saxo Bank has been in business longer than all of the brokers on this list except Interactive Brokers. It is known for its wide variety of financial products (over 60,000), access to a large number of market exchanges (over 120), and a large number of base currencies (18).

Saxo Bank has, more than anything, been trying to appeal to the professional investor. It has done so by offering advanced tools, such as its integration with the Trading View charting platform. The apps SaxoTraderGO and SaxoTraderPRO have also been tailored to the professional user.

Saxo Bank Dashboard

Maybe that’s why Saxo Bank has one of the highest initial deposit requirements in the industry. These can vary wildly depending on your residency, starting from £500 for the UK and €2,000 for most European countries. It is important to note that Saxo Bank is not available in some big global markets outside the EU, such as the US.

Saxo Bank also offers three account levels: Classic, Platinum ($200,000 minimum), and VIP ($1,000,000 minimum), each with its fee structure.

Fees on US stocks and ETFs start have a minimum of $1. For VIP accounts, it is 0.03% of the trade value. For Platinum and Classic accounts, those fees would be higher, at 0.05% and 0.08%, respectively. 

The fee structure is fairly complex, and there are also some additional fees to be aware of. Just to name a few most common ones:

• Custody fees: Between 0.09% and 0.15%;
• Inactivity fee (with no login in 6 months): €100; 
• Currency conversion fees: between 0.25%.

It is best to select the desired financial product from their website and see the full fee structure. In a nutshell, Saxo Bank is tailored to the professional investor and is not recommended to the average investor, mostly due to its higher-than-average fees.

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